One of the reasons that I enjoy cooking is that it gives you the power to take simple, even banal ingredients and turn them into something stunning. My eggplant mille-feuille may not be full of pastry cream like its original French counterpart, but it’s still very tasty and a little easier on the waistline. Plus, it is a good use for eggplants and bell peppers, both of which are currently in season.

Eggplant Mille-Feuille with maple-bourbon reduction

1 head of garlic

1 large eggplant

1 bell pepper

4-8oz pancetta or bacon

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2-4oz smoked mozzarella

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

2 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp bourbon

1 tbsp mustard

The first step, one that I do not advise skipping, is to roast a head of garlic in the oven. Preheat your oven to 350°F, then slice off the top of a head of garlic to expose the cloves, and place it on a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil and add salt, pepper, and a sprig of thyme or rosemary. Wrap the foil around the garlic and place it in the oven. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until the cloves are lightly browned and soft.

This next part can be done in an oven or on a grill depending on your preference. Cut your eggplant crosswise into ¼ inch slices. Depending on the size and shape of your eggplant, cut as many slices as you can that have roughly the same diameter (~6 to 8). Seed the bell pepper and cut it into even strips. Brush both with olive oil, and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. If you are grilling, use medium flame, if you are baking, 350°F is fine. Either way, cook the vegetables until tender and fragrant.

About 15 minutes before the timer for your garlic is set to go off (the entire house should smell delicious at this point), lay out about a dozen slices of pancetta or bacon on a wire-rack on top of a baking sheet. Pop this in the oven and bake until crispy. Note that if you are using bacon, instead of the paper-thin pancetta, you may need a little bit of extra time to attain crispiness.

To make the maple-bourbon reduction, combine the maple syrup, bourbon, and mustard in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to low and simmer, stirring frequently until thickened.

Once the garlic is done baking, use a teaspoon or chopstick to pop all of the cloves out of their paper casing. What you are left with is a delicious, and very versatile, form of garlic. You can spread this on bread, stir it into a pasta dish, add it to a soup, etc. In this case, mash the cloves up in a small container and spread some on each slice of eggplant. Next, add a slice or two of pancetta, a strip of roasted pepper, and a slice of smoked mozzarella to each layer. Depending on if you are cooking for one or two people, stack the eggplant slices into one large mille-feuille or two shorter ones. Lastly, drizzle some of the reduction over each one, and you’re all done!

(Mael Glon is a graduate student in the CMU Biology Department. Mael grew up in France but has spent a large part of his life in Utah, where he has cooked in several restaurants including High West Distillery in Park City. Mael’s main culinary interests are French pastries, foraged foods, and whiskey.)